There would have been no Nelson without Winnie

Much will be said about Winnie Mandela as the world continues to mark her passing and piece together her legacy in the coming days.

Already, contrary to African protocol of not talking ill of the dead, some mudslinging has begun.

There are those who talk of her failed marriage to Nelson Mandela and her part in it. For evidence, they will recall the submission of former president Mandela during his divorce trial where he said, “Ever since I came back from prison, not once has the defendant ever entered our bedroom while I was awake.” He added, “I was the loneliest man during the period I stayed with her.”

Another chapter that is bound to cast some dark clouds on her legacy was her involvement in the kidnapping, torture and murder of 14 year-old Stompie Seipei. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission gave her a two year suspended sentence for her actions.

What must not be forgotten, however, is her dedication to her people, to the struggle of liberation and to the man the world now calls, the Greatest Statesman who ever lived.

Quite simple, there would never have been a Nelson Mandela without Winnie. She was the yin to his yang, the one who made sure the world did not forget him in a dusty island prison cell. There were others too, in prison with Mandela, all jailed for the same cause.

They did not capture the imagination of the world as he did. You see, they did not have Winnie.

Winnie Mandela was a product of the troubled and violent times in which she lived. Those who will cast aspersions on her character must remember that South Africa was a country undergoing a liberation struggle. They were quite simply at war, and the lines of right and wrong can be blurred on the battlefield.

She lived under a regime that systematically hounded, victimised and tortured her. A fugitive in her own country, forced to raise her children on her own and keep her husband’s spirits alive in his prison cell. On April 15, 1976, he wrote of the comfort the thought of her brought him. He wrote, “My dearest Winnie, Your beautiful photo still stands about two feet above my left shoulder as I write this note. I dust it carefully every morning, for to do so gives me the pleasant feeling that I’m caressing you as in the old days. I even touch your nose with mine to recapture the electric current that used to flush through my blood whenever I did so.” In one of her letters to him, she spoke of her political widowhood, of a forced separation for the cause of her people.

She wrote, “We were hardly a year together when history deprived me of you. I was forced to mature on my own. Your formidable shadow which eclipsed me, left me naked and exposed to the bitter world of a young ‘political widow’. I knew this was a crown of thorns for me but I also knew I said, ‘I Do’ for better or worse. In marrying you I was marrying the struggle of my people. Yes, the thorns sometimes pricked so hard that the blood from the wounds covered up my eyes and the excrutiating pains blinded me for a while. Although I staggered across the path of freedom with pain, I staggered forward and never doubted my goal even when the crown was nailed by my people at times, this was only history. I would not have been worthy of their great love without such.”

Nelson Mandela is considered a saint in many quarters while his ex-wife Winnie was seen as the villain. However, like in any Shakespearean drama, you need both for an epic story such as will be told about these two legendary figures. None of them would ever have been possible without the other.

In an open letter, Graca Machel, the widow of Nelson Mandela paid the following tribute to Winnie Mandela.

“You will continue to serve as a guide to your loving family, your grateful nation, our beloved Africa, and indeed, the world. The extraordinary life you led is an example of resilient fortitude and inextinguishable passion that is a source of inspiration to us all of how to courageously confront challenges with unwavering strength and determination. Thank you for your brilliant wisdom, your fierce defiance and your stylish beauty.” May she find true rest and peace at last.

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